Dino Gum

Tip o' the hat to Lovely Package for this one: a product concept by Russian design firm BQB. If someone handed me a pack of this gum, I have no doubt that I'd take a piece and give it a good chew.

Todd VanDerWerff, One of Ours

Today's edition of the AV Club's weekly staff Q&A features a question about their automatic turn-ons and turn-offs. Todd VanDerWerff writes:

I wasn’t going to participate in this one, because I literally couldn’t think of anything: I’m too forgiving and too willing to watch everything at least once. But I realized when reading this news item (about Fox aiming to get Steven Spielberg on board for a TV series about a family that time travels to the prehistoric) that I will see or read literally anything featuring dinosaurs. The Jurassic Park trilogy? Own all three. Fragment, that weird book that came out last year about a secluded island where evolution had continued separate from our track for 500 million years? Read it and mostly enjoyed it, in spite of the intense shame I felt while reading it. And I’ve seen so many crazy stop-motion things purporting to show cavemen fighting dinosaurs that I’m sure I’ve forgotten most of them. It probably stems back to being a 4-year-old and thinking dinosaurs were the coolest thing ever (and having a friend who’s gone on to be a highly respected paleontologist), but something about giant reptiles just works for me. This and my love for time-travel stories, of course, blended into me seeing the absolutely awful A Sound Of Thunder, so this doesn’t always work out, but for the most part, if it’s got dinosaurs, I’m there.

That's the spirit, Todd.

For me? Dinosaurs, obviously. Also, I'd watch George Clooney churn butter for two hours. I'm comfortable enough in my sexuality to say that. Oh jeez, can you imagine if Spielberg and Joe Johnston got the Cloon to star in the possible new Jurassic Park trilogy? Celluloid candy. Sweet, sweet celluloid candy.

Aaaaaaand... I'm stopping now.

Vintage Dinosaur Art: Lou Bedford's Mesozoic Menagerie

Here's a charming little story I found in a 1941 issue of Pop Sci, available at Google books. I'm really curious about what happened to old Lou Bedford's fanciful dinosaur models. Mouldering in an basement? Auctioned off in an estate sale? Destroyed in a tragic inferno?

The article says that he worked in Hollywood as a special effects man, but the only Lou Bedford on IMDB is an actor born in 1930. Either this guy had a bad case of the Benjamin Buttons, or it's a different Lou Bedford.

This post was updated in 2012.

Hell Bent for Feathers

Helmut Tischlinger's photo of Microraptor gui holotype specimen under UV light. From PLos ONE

The wave of feathered dino research probably isn't cresting any time soon. Beyond the fact that China's bounty of feathered dinosaurs doesn't seem to be abating, science is using new ways of examining them. The study of fossilized melanosomes is exciting, as is the use of UV light to reveal details our eyes can't discern unaided.

Dave Hone has written a series of posts at Archosaur Musings to accompany the paper he co-authored describing new UV photographs of the remarkably well-preserved holotype specimen of Microraptor gui. The photos grab you first with their simple beauty, then with the knowledge they impart. The feathers of "four-winged" M. gui are indeed attached to the body and oriented as they would have been in life: a small revelation, Hone admits, but the greater good is the publicity this will hopefully give to the UV photography technique in studying the Chinese feathered dinosaurs.

The use of UV light to examine fossils has a long history of slow progress. It's been advanced considerably by the work of Helmut Tischlinger, a German researcher. He's dedicated most of his time to the Solnhofen limestone of Bavaria. This limestone bears witness to a Jurassic lagoon. It consists of fine layers, some of which were deposited very quickly - possibly during a cycle of storms. The water at the bottom of this lagoon was very salty, and a lack of oxygen retarded bacterial decay. It's a good recipe for a high-res fossil. If you've seen Archaeopteryx, you've seen a Solnhofen fossil. If you've seen a Tishlinger photo of Archaeopteryx, you've seen a whole 'nother bird, so to speak.

Dave Hone has extensively written about Tischlinger, and was instrumental in bringing him to China. I've got to say, Tischlinger's work is pretty inspiring. It's another reminder that behind the big "names in lights" of science, there are many creative, hard-working people behind the scenes. Obtaining scientifically useful images with UV photography involves many variables, and requires long exposure times. But it's worth it, and we may very well have Tischlinger's dedication to thank for some important coming discoveries. The feathered dinosaurs are still relevant to the modern world. so it's only proper that they all be photographed in this manner, so critical details that look to the naked eye to be part of the matrix aren't lost in preparation. Hone reports that at least one museum is using UV lights in the preparation of fossils, minimizing the risk that this happens.

ReBecca Hunt-Foster has come through again with a long interview with Hone at Dinochick Blogs. More at Dinosaur Tracking as well. More of Tischlinger's images at Archosaur Musings, as well as in this paper about the pterosaur Jeholopterus from the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, available free online.

Dinosaur Odyssey: A Review

If you haven't noticed, feathered dinosaurs are one of the hottest topics in paleontology right now. There's so much juicy stuff there, from arguments over the origin of birds to using modern technology to answer questions past generations couldn't imagine resolving. Recently at his blog Whirlpool of Life, Scott Sampson broke down this flood of new research, viewing it with his favored macroscopic perspective.

This perspective will be familiar to readers of Sampson's recent book Dinosaur Odyssey (University of California Press). Largely avoiding the many opportunities to get lost in minutia, Sampson places dinosaurs within the larger context of the Earth's natural history. He boldly declares that the study of dinosaurs is no dead end, but rather of vital importance to the future of the human race.

Sampson introduces the reader to the life of a paleontologist through personal anecdotes from his time in Madagascar and Utah. There's almost a Spielbergian feel to the scene in which a massive specimen of Gryposaurus is airlifted out of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. It's not all spectacle, though. Sampson gives credit to the local guides who help scientists negotiate unfamiliar terrain and the preparators whose labor we have to thank for the fossils we gawk at in museums. There isn't the level of personal detail you find in the work of say, Richard Fortey. But that's not the point here.

The point is always the big picture. As any dinosaur book for a popular audience should, and must, Dinosaur Odyssey provides solid introductions to the disparate disciplines that converge in the study of ancient life. Besides explaining evolution clearly and enthusiastically, Sampson lays out basic concepts of geology, climatology, thermodynamics, and botany. We meet gymnosperms, angiosperms, fungi, and bacteria. There is no facet of dinosaur life that isn't placed in its larger context. He makes clear comparisons between modern ecosystems, such as Africa's Serengeti-Mara, with those of the Mesozoic. The world around the dinosaurs is given life. This isn't a diorama.

Sampson is clearly aiming for a Sagan-like position as a popularizer of science, and his prose owes a definite debt to the revered astronomer There are stylistic debts, such as the phrase "in a very real sense," the very real meaning of which I don't know. More importantly, he seems to have been influenced by Sagan's efforts to help his fellow Earthlings understand their precarious place in this huge universe. There is no Dawkinsish acidity here, no baiting of anti-science pundits. The image presented is positive and accessible, tying in with his job as host of the PBS kids cartoon Dinosaur Train. One of the great revelations in my life was that what's happening under my feet is as interesting as what's happening around me. Dinosaur Odyssey, with its easily understood illustrations of the networks that make ecosystems work, has the potential to open plenty of eyes to that reality. This book should be in schools.

Indeed, reading Dinosaur Odyssey, I couldn't help but think that if I had a precocious kid or a science-minded teenager in my life, it would be the perfect gift for them. I remembered reading Stephen Jay Gould's essays in Natural History Magazine or Robert Bakker's Dinosaur Heresies when I was younger - readings that gave me a definite head-start in college science courses (a proud moment in my 100-level anthropology class was describing punctuated equilibrium to the group, receiving, I hope, some small measure of respect from the professor). It's too bad that Dinosaur Odyssey was just a bit early to incorporate the new breakthroughs in the study of feathered dinosaurs. But I imagine this isn't Sampson's last book.

I feel pretty lucky to be living at a time that we've got the experience and the technology to develop such a rich idea of how dinosaurs lived. Fifty years ago, they were fodder for B-movies. Now, they're a vehicle for delivering critical thinking skills, knowledge of the scientific process, and the wonder of nature to anyone willing to open their minds to the possibilities. And like Scott Sampson, I agree that these things are the true keys to our survival in an uncertain future.

Aloha, Abydosaurus

An amazing find from Dinosaur National Monument: four intact skulls of a new Cretaceous sauropod called Abydosaurus mcintoshi. The skulls of sauropods are delicate things, easily destroyed before getting a chance to fossilize. To find four of them in such close proximity is remarkable. Kudos to BYU for providing this here video.

The Onion

"Basically they scooted around by grabbing nearby vines with their mouths and pulling their bodies. Almost like a snake. What we used to think were legs were actually big flippers that flapped about in the air, driving them forward. Incredible."

From Paleontologists: 'We've Been Looking At Dinosaurs Upside Down' in today's Onion. Thanks to loyal reader Rebekah for pointing me in that direction!

And, just so you don't have to go through all of the trouble of typing "dinosaur" into the Onion's search engine:
Five-Year-Old Convinced Dinosaur Bones Are Buried In Backyard
New Triple-X Dinosaur Park Opens In Nevada
Stegosaurus Is My Second-Favorite Dinosaur
Video: Paleontologists Discover Skeleton Of Nature’s First Sexual Predator
Dinosaurs Sadly Extinct Before Invention Of Bazooka
Creationist Museum Acquires 5,000-Year-Old T. Rex Skeleton
Exxon Paleontologists Call For Increased U.S. Fossil Production
Report: Shopoholism May Have Killed The Shoposauruses

D.I.N.O.S.A.U.R. by Ke$ha

New fodder for the paleo-themed song parody industry, from the lovely young lady who introduced the world to idea of Jack Daniels' use as a dentifrice.



Hittin' on me wha? you need a CAT scan!

This one's a bit more visually interesting, but sadder by an order of magnitude.



It may have ripped off this one.



But that also may be a staple of juvenile YouTube homages to pop songs. I ain't schooled in this stuff. Finally, if you're into the most pathetic end of the spectrum, I submit to thee:



For the record, I don't regret that YouTube was not around when I was a young'un. The only solace I have regarding my remarkably awkward puberty is that there's no direct evidence of it online.

Downy and Hairy

This morning, I had the rare treat of simultaneously hosting both a Hairy and a Downy Woodpecker at my suet block. As Hairy took her time and ate her fill, smaller Downy fidgeted in a nearby dogwood tree, occasionally chirping impatiently, occasionally fluttering toward the suet only to think better of it and return to her perch. It was adorable.

This was a perfect opportunity to finally compare these two woodpeckers, side by side. I grabbed my trusty Sibley Field Guide to finally settle this pressing matter. See, they look almost identical, save for a few crucial details.

Downy Woodpecker by Peggy Collins, via flickr

Hairy Woodpecker by Geoff Patterson via flickr

The big difference is that the Hairy is larger - not evident in the photos, unfortunately - with a more robust beak and plain white feathers under the tail. The Downy has a thicker tuft of white feathers on top of the beak, and the feathers under the tail have black spots. The above birds are both females; males of both species have a red band on the back of the head. Not being an expert birder by any means, I used to just call any black and white speckled woodpecker I saw flying around a Downy and be done with it. Seeing both in close proximity was a huge help. It made my morning!

So let's pretend that I live near a volcano, and today it erupts, burying these woodpeckers, me, and everything else in my yard. Fast forward ten million years or so. Incredibly, there are still paleontologists around, and they dig up these woodpeckers. Considering how similar the birds are, would the future paleontologists ascribe them to different species? Would they instead be thought to represent natural size variation or different ontological* stages within the same species?

With fully preserved skeletons, a skilled paleontologist could probably deduce that they are different species, at the very least based on the beak. I can only assume that the post-cranial skeleton is similar enough that if the head was missing, it would create quite a challenge. I could certainly see it being debated.

The funny thing is that based on recent genetic sequencing, it appears that the Downy and Hairy woodpeckers, both now placed in the Picoides genus, may need to be placed in separate genera. I had planned on summing up their relationship by noting that they share a recent common ancestor, but based on the distinct selective pressures placed on to separate populations, the lineages leading to Downy and Hairy woodpeckers split. When I did a bit of research, it turned out not to be quite so simple. Their ancestor is more distant than I'd assumed.

It's one of the consequences of technology. We now have to tools to study organisms at a deeper level than outward features, and science cannot ignore new information. It's less of an issue with living species: they have common names unrelated to the latin binomial. When we see chimpanzees we call them "chimpanzees," not Pan troglodytes. Unless we're unsufferable nerds, of course. But when the same thing happens to genera of dinosaurs and other extinct creatures, it's a bigger problem. Thus, Brontosaurus is learned to be a false genus based on a skull being placed on the wrong body. The world still isn't used to Apatosaurus.

*Ontogeny = the way an organism changes from birth to adulthood.

Vintage Dinosaur Art: Saltasaurus and Peppernychus

No information on where these guys came from. I scooped 'em up from a local antique store, but there's no imprint on them.





I look for cool paleo-related stuff whenever I'm in an antique store, but it's really hard to come by, beyond the occasional Sinclair sign, or children's books, which are almost always way over-priced (the thrift stores are where it's at for books). The only other dinosaur salt and pepper shakers I've been able to find on-line are here. This is, in my opinion, one of the most grievous oversights in the history of kitchenware. Disgraceful.

UPDATED: Julia, of the wonderful, thoroughly worthwhile blog The Ethical Palaeontologist, has clued me in that these dudes may not technically be vintage at all! Check out the comments below to see some shots of a suspiciously similar money box she purchased at Wall Drug, SD. Thank you, Julia. And thanks to Brian at Dinosaur Tracking for the hat tip.